What might motivate some parents to urge educators & psychologists to diagnose their children with ADD?

Answer 1

Busy.. and don't take the time to get to know the children

Answer 2

Often, parents just don't know what else to try. Their child is hyper, disobedient and easily distracted, and a psychological diagnosis can be a quick and easy explanation.

ADD, while not uncommon, is somewhat over-diagnosed in children these days. In fact, ADD itself is no longer a recognized diagnosis within the medical and psychological communities (although many doctors and psychiatrists are not aware of this change). ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and AD/HD (Attention Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder) have been combined into three separate classifications of AD/HD: Type H (Hyperactive), Type I (Inattentive) and Type C (Combined). The steriotypical "ADD" as it is commonly known in this country is now AD/HD Type H.

One of the reasons for over-diagnosis stems from misguided parenting. This is not to say all parents do this, or that parents who do do this are poor parents, but a simple lack of discipline can instill habits in children very similar to AD/HD Type H. When parents don't understand why their child is behaving improperly at home and performing poorly in school, it can be easy to consider a behavioral disorder. In the event of a positive diagnosis, their child may be eligible to receive special services from their school, along with the possibility of medication to calm the child down. While understandable from the parents' point of view, this can be very harmful if the child does not in fact have AD/HD.

If you think your child may have a problem, make an appointment with a credible psychiatrist, preferably one who specializes in behavioral disorders. Don't approach the educators; they are not trained to diagnose or treat this sort of thing. Don't hesitate though; not knowing the truth about a condition of any kind can be extremely detrimental.

This advice is given with the best of intentions, but please take it for what it is worth. I am not a psychiatrist, psychologist or doctor of any sort. I am a 25-year-old who was diagnosed with AD/HD Type I at the age of 21. Talking to the psychiatrist who administered the test was a turning point in my life; years and years of awkwardness and frustration were immediately de-mystified to myself, my parents, my family and my friends. Years of thinking that I was just an idiot were taken away. Because of that, I've spent the last four years researching the topic and speaking with anybody who has had any experience with these conditions. I really hope this helps a bit (even though I've now completed a book!). Good luck and take care!

Answer 3

Frankly, I think that most ADD diagnosises are BS and that the child is simply an active child with lazy parents AND educators who don't want to do the hardwork it takes to keep these kids interested. Maybe the child is bored because you aren't challenging his/her imagination enough.

I'm not saying that ADD doesn't really exist, but I am saying that medical professionals these days are more interested in giving their patients quick answers instead of really putting in the time and effort that it takes to correctly diagnose a patient. The health care system in the US is so corrupt and ineffective that we may as well live in a third world country. We have all this fabulous technology, but only 5% of the population has access to it because they are severly limited by what insurance companies are willing to pay for, plus the 3 to 5 month waiting period just to get in to SEE your doctor.

Aren't you glad you asked this question?

Answer 4

A) If their child actually has classic ADD symptoms that get in the way of teh child being able to function socially or academically.

B) If the parent wants attention.

C) If the parent wants a very young child who won't notice they're not getting the meds themselves, to be put on Ritalin so the parent can take it to crush up and snort themselves. (This is really creepy. It doesn't give a good high, but if they have a drug plan where they can get the kid's ritalin covered, it's a 'free' source of a cheap high. Ritalin settles down kids with ADD, but in adults who don't have ADD, it's a stimulant or a mild upper.)

Answer 5

Parents my find that the "diagnosis" of thier child is a relief. "Now we know what the problem is, we can deal with it" In some cases, educators may believe that a diagnosis will qualify the child for special services he/she may not otherwise recieve. However, in pushing for a diagnosis, everyone, especially professionals in the field need to remember the effects of labeling bias and self fulfilling prophecy. Labels shouldn't be assigned without the utmost care and consideration of effects the label will have on the life of the child.

Answer 6

Some parents may have tried everything and it's a last resort. However, some parents just don't want to deal with being a parent and all the responsibilities that come with it.

Answer 7

The reasons for a diagnosis of ADD can be made for many reasons
·They don't want to take the time to deal with their child.
·They don't understand how to raise a child and seek advice from (and medication) from doctors.
·They were never disciplined properly as children and don't know how to do it themselves to their children.
·The child may actually have ADD

Raising children is not and easy task and it is not instinctive, it requires the training of the parents who raised that child. The "Me Generation" has done out youth harm for 2 generations. First they neglected and indulged their children and by training those children that way they just continued their mistake.

I am not saying that ADD isn't a real disorder, and that some children don't have it. It is very real and a very small minority of children have the disease. However, it is a mental disorder and hard to diagnose. The doctors of today don't have a lot of time to spend with their patients and have to rely a lot on what the parents say. Sometimes the parents are so demanding that their child is unmanageable and needs ADD medication that the exhausted doctors finally give it to him.

I answered a question like this several weeks ago: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AnS0AyRenxnShwBrB1nc7KYezKIX?qid=20061010165320AA098mY&cp=2&tp=2#all-answers
Answer 59, the last and probably the longest.

A lot of people are trying to diagnose the child with ADD, when all he needs is some good old-fashioned discipline, and I do not mean a spanking. Children go through two stages when they rebel. The first is when they are trying to learn their limits as a very young child, and the second is when a teenager tries to learn their limits. The child pushes the parents until they either train them to respond to their every wish or they are shown their limits and allowed to go no further.

This is what makes bad children, the lack of limits, and the lack of their parents understanding how to apply those limits. If you tell a child no, and punish them when they don’t listen, and make sure that all the adults do the same, then the child will learn their limits and stop misbehaving so much. Of course there is a balance and you can’t be too hard on the child. I made that mistake and was shown the error of my ways.

When I was in 2nd or 3rd grade I had a teacher get exhausted with my constant running around in class. She ended up taping me to the chair (this was back when corporal punishment was still allowed in school). She could have suspected that I had ADD, but I calmed down. She showed me her limits to what she would tolerate, and she didn’t have to beat me to do it. Oh, I broke the tape (it was only a few turns of masking tape) in only a few minutes, but I stayed in the chair and that was what the tape was for. That teacher never had to do that to me again.

When I was just going into high school my mother decided to have two more children. Since she was also working (getting ready to put 3 children through college) we all had to help take care of the babies. I learned a lot by doing this, and at a time and age where I could understand it; soon after the baby was out of diapers and able to communicate my parents stopped hitting them (the three older children as well). They would let their children do a lot of things, more things than I thought they should do, but in the end they stood up to their children and taught them limits.

Dr. Wayne Dyer talked about one child he called Conan the Horrible. To get him to go to bed each night the parents had to lay a trail of cookies to his bed. At dinner he was allowed to take food from other people’s plates and behave pretty much as he wanted to. He was running his parents ragged and this was all before he was going to Kindergarten. Left to develop that way we would see another Bart Simpson in the making, but I doubt if the behavior would be tolerated for long.

I saw a recent 20/20 episode on pubic schools. In that episode they gave some children cameras and let them film what was going on in the school. At one point there was a teenager in junior high, or high school that was walking on top of the desks in the middle of the teacher’s discussion. In my day that would not have been tolerated; the teacher did tell the child to sit down, but that was the end of the mater. The child was not disciplined, in my day that behavior would require a trip to the principles office and a cal to the parents.

It is hard to discipline children when they are not your own. When I was a Cub Scout master I tried time outs in the hall, but the worst punishment I ever dealt out was to walk the child home and talk with their parents. As a Cub Scout leader I didn’t’ think it was my place to seriously punish the child, but I had to show them that I wouldn’t tolerate their misbehavior. I never had to discipline a child in that way twice. In fact I only had to discipline 2 children that way and I spent 2 years as their leader. Of course I also made sure that we spent part of our session playing something active. Grade school children need time to be children and to play.

The diagnoses of ADD is too common because many parents don’t set limits for their children. Bart Simpson is a classic example this. Homer never follows through on his discipline so Bart is always pushing it, finding new ways to misbehave. Lisa is a good child because she wasn’t the tempted to push her limits, and Marge took care of her discipline. The first treatment for ADD is to give a child limits and discipline when they cross them. It doesn’t have to be a beating. When I disciplined my 3 naughty Cub Scouts the other boys took notice and they weren’t problems, all I had to do was show them what I wouldn’t put up with. If the child continues to misbehave and have trouble in school then a diagnoses of ADD may be made, but not until after the parents have shown their attempts at coordinated discipline first.

Answer 8

Not being able to sit still, lack of focus, not paying attention in school- there are a lot of things.

Answer 9

I think if they were given extra cash or awards as a motivater they'd be.

Answer 10

maybe they're just tired